A Growing Shepherd Family
by GreysAnatomy4ever
Summary: Takes place after season 10- It's December and Meredith is 11 weeks pregnant with her 3rd child. This story will be Merder and their family. It will also include most regular Greys Characters and A Shepherd Christmas Family get together in Connecticut. Zola is now 4 years old, and Bailey is 19 months old Sorry, I'm bad at summaries... So please read!
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks for deciding to read my story! The first chapter will be a little boring, but i'm just trying to establish some things, and I will probably have the second chapter up in a few hours. I'm still adding finishing touches! But, like you read in the description, this story will be about Meredith and Derek's growing family! Meredith is pregnant again! I really wish Shonda would show Derek's family more, so I'm starting this story out with Meredith and Derek's Family traveling to Connecticut for a Shepherd Family Christmas! Whoo!**

**(P.S. I know my spelling and grammar will have mistakes, its not as well edited as I would like, but it's the story that counts, so just stick with me here!)**

Perks of getting a flight early in the morning was that Zola and Bailey would sleep through most of the flight. This is why Derek and Meredith booked such an early flight. They had never traveled with the kids before. As the kids snoozed, Derek and Meredith were enjoying some alone time. Most of the flight, they were talking about how they want to tell everyone that they were going to have another baby, or going over everyone in the family, so Mer will be more prepared when she got there. When the conversation came to a halt, Derek could tell his wife was nervous the way she was looking out the window and picking at her nails.

"Are you still nervous about my whole family being in one place?" Derek questioned Mer, concerned.

Meredith let out a sigh. She'd spent some quality time with Derek's mom after Bailey was born. They really got along just fine. She got to know Lizzie when she donated her nerves to Derek, and Amy when she came out to their house in the woods, wondering if she could live the life Derek and Meredith were living after she had gotten engaged. She wasn't nervous about seeing them, just everyone else. The only time she had met Nancy was when she was still an intern and Derek had just recently gotten a divorce. She'd never met Kathleen, or all 14 of her nieces and nephews. Meredith didn't know if the feeling in her stomach was nausea from the morning sickness or nerves about meeting the rest of the family. She was 11 weeks along, her baby bump was there, but it was tiny and it'd be hard to distinguish it from bloating or eating a ton. She picked out a shirt that was loose, and not tight fitting like most of hers. The family didn't know she was pregnant yet. They were waiting to tell them until they were there. They still had no idea when they would tell them though, they figured they would know the moment they were ready. "I don't know." She responded. "I just don't know them as well as you do." She linked her fingers into his and smiled at him. The plane was about to land. "They probably will hate me, after being with me for a whole week.:

"They don't hate your Mer, I told you that already." Derek said, comforting her.

"You don't know that." She snapped. "Nancy probably still calls me a 'slutty intern' or whatever" Nancy was really good friends with Addison and had taken her side in the divorce until Derek told her that Addie and Mark had a relationship after he lefy.

"Well I'll make sure she doesn't" Derek reassured, putting an arm aruond her shoulder, pulling her in for a hug. "Besides, I'll be there the whole time. And my mom, Amy, and Lizzie seemed to really like you when we last saw them."

"Hope so." She forced a smile. "Let's get our stuff together." She said changing the subject, as she reached up to pick up Zola's coloring book from off the tray on the back of the plane seat.

Meredith and Derek were pleased by their children's behavior the whole time they were traveling. They barely fussed at all, Derek and Meredith were prepared for much worse. They picked up their luggage and strapped their children into the rental car.

"I'll call my mom, tell her we are leaving the airport. It's about a 20 minute drive." He stated, pulling out his phone and dialing her number

Meredith and Derek sat in the driveway of his mothers house. It was a beautiful 2 story brick home with a big yard and lots of pretty landscaping.

"It'll be fine" Derek promised her, getting out of the car. "We have to wake up the kids, everyone will want to see them when we get inside." He smiled. Only Mom and Amy have met Bailey."

"You're right." She said trying to reassure herself, nudging her son awake. "Bailey," She smiled at her son. "We are at grandmas house!"

"Gamma" Bailey replied, opening his sparkling blue eyes, still half asleep.

Meredith giggled at her sons bedhead. "Yea, Grandmas."

"You too ZoZo, time to wake up. We are here!" She said tapping her leg.

Zola was instantly excited, she'd been wanting to see her Grandma for a long time, it's all she talked about for the past week, well, that and Santa Claus. Zola unbuckled herself from her seat, a trick Derek and Meredith wish she didn't know how to do yet, and opened the door.

"Go hold daddy's hand, he is getting Bailey's bag from the trunk." Meredith instructs her daughter.

"Okay. I'm goin." She responds, and smiles. "DADDY WE ARE AT GRANDMAS!" She says as she runs over to her dad.

Derek picks her up and smiles, shutting the trunk and locking the car. "I know! You know who else is here?" Derek kisses the top of her head. "Your cousins and aunts and uncles."

"I know that daddy, but I want to see grandma!" Zola was a very smart girl. "Go inside now." She directed her dad. She knew what she wanted, and was very bossy. Meredith and Derek always thought how funny it was that thier adopted daughter had personalities and traits just like them.

Meredith lifted her son from his carseat and carried him to the front door with Derek. 'Here we go' She thought, as Zola pressed the doorbell button.

**Thanks for reading! Sorry, the first chapter was pretty boring, hopefully the next ones will be more exciting to you guys! Tell me what you think so far!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Told you I would get chapter 2 up quickly :) And, Thanks SOOOOO much for the nice reviews! I love hearing from people! This is my first fanfic, so I'm super excited! Sadly, I am going to be out of town for just one night tommorow, so if I don't get another chapter in tonight, It will be Sunday night or Monday when I put the next one out. So, Since this is Christmas time, I'm just going to say that it is December 22, so 3 days until Christmas!**

Kathleen, Amy, Nancy, and Lizzie Shepherd were sipping wine on the back porch, catching up with each other. Carolyn was cooking dinner inside the house. The husbands were off playing a round of golf. All the kids were playing with one another in the yard. Meredith and Derek would be the last ones to arrive. Everyone was awaiting their arrival. They wanted to meet their niece and nephew, the kids wanted to meet their cousins. Kathleen was the only sister not to have met Meredith before, although Nancy's meeting her barely counted, it was YEARS ago.

"So, anyone heard from Derek yet?" Kathleen questioned. She was eager to see her brother, the last time she saw him in person, he was still married to Addison and living in New , she still talked to Derek on the phone and exchanged texts with pictures of their families from time to time.

"He called mom 30 minutes ago, saying they got off the plane." Amy responded. "They should be here any minute now."

"Good," Kathleen smiled. "I've been waiting to meet this Meredith chick for ages!"

"You know they are married now? With two kids?" Lizzie joked. "She's our sister, technically."

"Hey, I know that. I've only seen her in pictures. Derek married the slutty intern girl and never showed up here for us to meet her." Kathleen joked. "But, I've heard she is a very lovely girl."

"I had to show up there to meet her." Amy spoke. "After Derek got shot, I flew up there." Amy giggled remembering her mile high hook up with the guy with a brain tumor. "I brought him a brain tumor. He didn't want to take the case, but Meredith made him." Amy smiled. "The same thing happened the second time I came. But, the third time I babysat their kids, I stayed there for a week and got a lot of time to talk to her. Meredith is very good for Derek. I can tell you that." Amy stated. "Besides, I think that means she likes me best." She joked, shifting the mood back to joking.

"No, It's definitely me she likes best!" Lizzie defended. "You know, when I donated my nerves to fix Derek's hand, She told me she was pregnant with Bailey, and I was the first person to know." She smirked. "I don't know, but I think that puts me in the favorite sister-in-law spot."

"What?!"" Amy said. "You knew and didn't' tell us?"

"Ehh, I promised not to." The girls laughed.

The sisters all turned around as they heard the ding-dong. They watched as Carolyn Shepherd opened the door to let them in.

"Should we go greet them inside?" Amy suggested.

"Lets just wait for them to come out here." Kathleen spoke. "Besides, we can watch them from here!" Kathleen laughed.

They watched as Derek hugged his mother. Meredith handed Bailey to his grandma, smiling.

"Derek look good, he looks happy." Nancy smiled then sighed. She always wished that he would have stayed with Addie, but she understood that their marriage was beyond repair and how much he wanted Meredith.

"Dang. I never realized how skinny Meredith was." Kathleen stated. All the sister look at Kathleen, a bit taken back. "She looks different from the pictures." Lizzie and Nancy shook their head and giggled, looking back to watch Carolyn interact with her grandkids. "Does she even eat?" Kathleen questioned.

Amy and Lizzie both laughed. They both knew how much she ate. "Yea, that girl has a bottomless pit for a stomach." Amy laughed. "Trust me! She eats."

"I wish I had her metabolism!" Kathleen joked as she watched Meredith pick up her daughter. The way she held her daughter on her hip pulled her shirt back, so it was tight against her stomach. "You would think though, with arms and legs like that, her stomach would be flat as a board." She said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as her eyebrows rose, wondering if her sisters saw the same small bump,barely noticeable, like she'd just eaten a whole bunch, and may be a little bloated.

"It usually is, isn't it?" Amy asked Kathleen, turning around to look at Meredith. "Oh." Amy looked down to where Meredith's shirt hugged her belly. "Probably had just a little too much to eat on the plane!" She laughed. "Unless she's pregnant again." Amy blurted as a joke, she turned and looked at them.

"Wait, you guys seriously think she is pregnant again?" She said as she noticed the looks on their faces. "Come on, she would tell us!"

"She didn't tell mom last time until she was halfway done with her second trimester." Nancy pointed out. "Well, besides Kathleen." she commented

"Ooooh, another Shepherd baby!" Lizzie squeeled.

"Stop, we don't know that for sure!" Amy demanded.

"Well, there is only one way to find out!" Nancy smirked.

"We can't just ask her if she's pregnant!" Amy said flat out. "What if she isn't that's just embarrassing for everyone." She stated. "We can't ask her!"

"I'm not going to ask her if she's pregnant, you idiot." Nancy looked at her like she just asked the most stupid question in the world. Amy opened her mouth, about to say 'how' when Nancy said "We are going to ask her to have wine with us!" Nancy rose her eyebrow, wondering what her sisters response would be.

"Mean!" Amy giggled, smiling. "But I like it!" She looked over at her sisters and they all nodded in agreement.

"I'll go get her," She spoke towards her sister Nancy, "You offer her the wine." They smiled at each other as Amy opened the door and headed inside.

**I kinda wanted the sisters to figure out for themselves, I wasn't sure how i was going to do it, but this just kind of came to me, so i was like what the heck and just wrote it anyways! I kinda made it so that the Shepherd sisters love to gossip about Meredith because she is so unfamiliar to them, but made their brother so happy. Also, when I think of the sisters, I think of them as a close knit group who share everything. I made this chapter a little short, but that's because I think the conversations to come will be longer, and I felt like this would be a good place to stop. But anyways, tell me what you thought and if you want anything to happen or have a suggestion, feel free to mention it! I love other people's ideas, and I'd love to incorporate some in the story if I see it fitting to where I want the story to go! Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks again for all the great responses! I hope you are enjoying it! This chapter is a little un-polished. It could've been better, but it got the point across, and since I can't post (or write) for the rest of the weekend, I thought this should atleast be posted tonight before I go to sleep for the night. I can't wait to write the chapters to come, but that will have to wait until Sunday :(** Meredith looked around, surveyed the house she was in. It was beautifully decorated. The first thing Meredith noticed was the pitures. They were everywhere. There were pictures of old friends, Carolyn's kids when they were little, old family pictures, and mostly, Carolyn's grandkids. Their pictures were everywhere. Well, she did have 16. The only picture frame that stood out was the one right next to the door, it was a picture frame with 6 slots for pictures vertically. Above was a little sign with the word family written in Bright blue cursive letters. Each one of the slots contained pictures of her children's families. She saw Nancy's, then Kathleen's, then Lizzie's, then Amy's, hers was next. She remembered Carolyn taking that picture the day Meredith got out of the hospital. She smiled. It was their first family picture. But, below the picture of her family was a picture of Mark and Sofia. Meredith's felt a pit in her stomach as she remembered her friend Mark. He really had been like one of Carolyn's kids. Meredith hated to think about his death, mainly because it brought back memories of Lexie. She bit her lip and wondered that if they were both still alive, if Lexie would be in the frame with them. She didn't want to keep thinking about that so she continued to look around her. Her head stopped as she saw all 4 of Derek's sisters, watching them and talking. _Talking about me. _Meredith thought. She was always paranoid. _I look too nervous. _She quickly turned back to the conversation. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, picked up Zola and smiled. _I look more comfortable now. _She reassured herself, trying to believe it. A few moments later, Amy came in and greeted them all. "So glad to see you all!" She squealed. She hugged, Meredith, then Derek, then picked up Zola and gave her a big bear hug. "How's my favorite Zozo?" She smiled as she sat Zola back down. "And look how big Bailey has gotten! Wow!" After a few more minutes of talking to Derek and catching up on her niece and nephew, Amy grabbed Meredith's hand. "Come meet Kathleen! She's been dying to meet you!" Meredith opened her mouth to object, but she was already being pulled towards the door. She looked back and saw Derek and Carolyns smiling faces and decided to go anyways. Kathleen stood up as Meredith walked outside. "Meredith," She said, looking at her up and down. "So glad to finally meet you!" She hugged Meredith. "You too." Meredith said as she awkwardly hugged her sister-in-law back. Meredith looked at all of Derek's sisters and realized just how much she didn't fit in. They were wearing dresses, or skirts with a fancy shirt. _Meredith wore jeans and a flowy top. _Highheels. _Meredith rarely wore them anymore_. _Flats were her thing._ A full face of makeup. _Didn't have time for that with 2 kids, how'd they do it with more? _Their hair was done nice _Meredith's just hung at her shoulders. _These girls dressed like Addison did. Maybe that is what bothered Meredith the most about Derek's sisters, that they all liked Addison so much, and Meredith still felt like the 'Slutty Intern' in their eyes.. Kathleen smiled at her. "I've heard so much about you." "I bet!" She said, somewhat smiling. "I've heard some stories about you guys too!" She lied. Derek rarely talked about his sisters. "Well I wouldn't believe a word he said." Nancy stated. "Glad to see you again. It's been awhile."  
"It certainly has." Meredith let out a nervous laugh, remembering first seeing Nancy, in Derek's trailer. She stood there awkwardly until Lizzie spoke up. "Well don't forget about me!" She joked and got up to hug Meredith. Meredith hugged her back, more genuinely. She thought Lizzie liked her more, ever since she shared her pregnancy with Bailey. "Well, enough standing here!" Lizzie barked, grabbing Meredith hand, pulling her towards the patio furniture. "Sit down and have a drink with us! Let us talk to you!" "Oh, no." She replied quickly. She never thought about what would happen if she got in a situation like this. She couldn't drink. "I… I think I'll just go find Derek inside." She smiled at the sisters that that wasn't really an excuse she added, "I'll get him to bring the kids out here."And turned around, quickly heading to the door before the sisters could say anything else. Amy, Liz, Nancy, and Kathleen all turned to each other as she left, giggling. "She's definitely pregnant again."  
"Yea." they all agreed. "Is everything alright?" Derek asked Meredith as she walked back into the house. She had an almost petrified look on her face. "Oh." She perked up at the sound of Derek's voice "Yea." She smiled. "They want to meet the kids!" "Oh, well I'll bring Bailey out there now!" Carolyn said as she headed outside. She hadn't put down her grandson once. "Seriously," Derek put his arm around Meredith's waist. "Everything is alright?" "Yes, Derek." She pulled his arm off her hip. "Everythings fine!" She looked around for Zola "Where is Zola?" She asked, her heart started beating faster. How'd they manage to lose their daughter already? "Relax!" Derek said. "Some of her cousins came and brought her upstairs for a makeover or something." He smiled at Meredith. "She really likes her cousins already!" Most of Derek's sisters kids were older now. The youngest one was 8, the oldest was about to turn 18. "Will you go get her and bring her outside?" She asked. "I'm going to head out there now with your mom and Bailey." "Sounds good." Derek kissed his wife and headed towards the stairs. "Thanks making sure we came this year. I'm glad we did." "Me too." Meredith lied as Derek walked upstairs. Meredith didn't know if she regretted her decision in coming or not. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Oh, he has Derek's eyes for sure!" Meredith heard Nancy say as she stepped outside again. "Isn't he just the cutest little thing?" Carolyn added. Carolyn and all of Derek's sisters were watching Bailey as he tried to play with a bouncy ball with one of his older cousins. He'd try to throw it, but most of the time, he'd lift his hands too high, and the ball would fall backwards over his head. It made everyone giggle. He'd just turn around, pick it up and try again. He never stopped laughing, he was such a happy toddler. He even had a crowd of a few of Meredith's nieces watching. Everyone was entranced by her son. She smiled. Meredith was glad she was pregnant again, she would miss this age too much when it was gone. "You know," Amy spoke to Meredith, "He looks a lot like you!" Meredith snapped back into reality, and noticed that all 4 sisters were staring at her. "Oh, yea. I've been told that before." She smiled nervously. "Except for the eyes." She added "Where is little miss Zola?" Lizzie asked. "Derek went to get her." She stated. "She went upstairs with…" Meredith didn't know any of her nieces, or nephews for that matter. She felt embarrassed and could feel her cheeks redden. "someone…" She trailed off. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it's Amanda who brought her up. She's been talking about Zola the whole day!" Kathleen spoke up. _Amanda belongs to Kathleen _Meredith tried to embed this in her brain, so she could at least know someone. Before Meredith could think of something in reply, Zola ran out to her mom, Derek and Amanda walked out behind her. "Mommy- Mommy look at my make-up!" She screamed, lifting her hands up so she could be lifted. Meredith picked up her daughter and examined her face. "Very Pretty!" She said kissing her. "You look like a princess!" "Manda did it!" Zola replied, pointing at the girl standing in the doorway. Amanda appeared to be 13 or 14. Her hair was like Derek's, long, curly and dark brown. She was no doubtingly Kathleen's child. They looked like spitting images of each other.  
"Well, did you tell her thank you?" Meredith looked at her daughter, putting her down on the ground as she shook her head no. "Then, How bout you go do that?" She smiled. "THANK YOU MANDA!" Zola ran over and hugged her. Zola was such a girly girl, she was very outgoing and spoiled too. At home, Zola only liked to wear her princess dress up clothes and have tea parties with her brother. "You can do Bailey too. I'll show you him. He's my brother." She said, grabbing on to Amanda's hand, pulling her towards Bailey. "I don't think boys like make-up too much Zola." Her voice trailed off as Zola dragged her farther away. All the adults laughed. "Well, isn't she bossy?" laughed Nancy watching Zola drag her away. "She gets it from Meredith" Derek said with a wide smile stretched across his face. "Stop it!" Meredith jokingly hit Derek in the stomach and glared at him. "I can see that." Nancy said, raising her eyebrows. "Shes the one who makes Derek wear the princess crown at the tea parties." Meredith added, making sure to embarrass her husband. Everyone laughed at Meredith's joke. The doorbell rang. "OH, it must be the boys!" Carolyn sang as she headed to the door, Derek followed. The boys referred to the husbands. "Well don't you have him wrapped around your fingers?" Kathleen spoke to Meredith. "Come, sit down with us!" She said, patting the seat next to hers. Meredith made her away over and sat down nervously. "Why don't you tell us about yourself?"  
"What would you want to know?" Meredith asked, hoping they wouldn't get too personal, though she really doubted it. Derek's sisters were very nosy. "What about your family? Your mom, dad, sisters, brothers?"  
"Oh, there isn't much to that." Meredith said, wondering how much the sisters would judge her for her bad family history. "My mom died a few years ago. My dad lives in Seattle. My parents split up when I was 5, my mom and I moved to Boston and I never talked to him again, until he showed up my intern year at the hospital with a new family- my half sister was pregnant and needed surgery or something. Oh, and I have another half-sister too. She was nice but she is dead now.' Meredith wondered if she should have added in that last part. No one knew how to respond to that. "Were you dating Derek at the time he showed up?" Was all Nancy could think of. "Oh. No. They came to Seattle Grace for Addison to do the surgery." Meredith mentioned awkwardly. "Oh." Nancy responded. "How'd you guys meet?" Kathleen added, trying to change the subject to something less awkward, even though it wasn't. "Just at the hospital… you know…" Meredith bit the bottom of her lip. She didn't want to tell them that Derek was her one night stand. "You are such a bad liar!" Amy joked. She could tell by the look on Meredith's face. The way she bit the bottom of her lip. "You can tell us. We won't judge." She smiled at Meredith. Everyone wanted to know. Meredith knew they would judge, but she'd figure they would figure out how they met eventually. "We met at a bar." Meredith said, awkwardly not wanting to explain the whole story. "It was the day before my internship started." She added. "See, that's not even that bad. Lots of people probably meet at bars and figure out they have a lot in common." Amy said, trying to make Meredith feel more comfortable "He was a one-night stand." Meredith blurted, trying to hide the blushing from her face. The sisters all looked at each other and laughed. Meredith didn't think they were even judging her, she thought they they thought it was genuinely funny. "Seriously?" Lizzie laughed. "Did you know he was an attending?"  
"I didn't even know his name in the morning." Meredith laughed alongside her sisters-in-law. "I showed up at the hospital the next day and he was working there." They continued talking about the funny beginning parts of Meredith and Derek's relationship. Meredith was starting to get more comfortable. She could tell his sisters were trying to accept her, maybe even starting to like her. "Are you ever going to have more kids?" Meredith was taken aback by the question Nancy had so blatantly blurted. "oh. uhh. umm." Meredith had no idea what to say. She Should probably just tell them that she was pregnant now. _No, I have to wait for Derek to do that._ "uh, Yea, probably." Meredith dropped the gaze to her stomach, then lifted her head up to see that all the girls were staring at her. "That's good." Nancy added, raising her eyebrows. "Anytime soon?" "oh, maybe." She responded, dropping her gaze to her feet. "Aren't you guys going to tell me about your lifes?" She asked, trying to change the subject. "Let me pour you a glass of wine, you've had a long day!" Nancy said. "And besides, you don't want to hear about us, We are not nearly as interesting." "It's fine. I'm fine." Meredith said a little too quickly. "And I would love to hear about you guys." "No, you wouldn't" She smiled. "Why don't you want any wine?" Nancy egged her on, trying to get her to say it.  
"I just, uhm, don't feel like any right now."  
"Meredith….." Nancy whined. "**Okay, just tell if you are pregnant already, for Pete's sake!**" Amy yelled. "**Just say it, we already know**!" All eyes were on Meredith. Meredith didn't know what to say. She just gaped at them. Her mouth wide open. She didn't expect them to figure out. How'd they know? She was still flabbergasted by the question. Too dumbstruck to answer. "I….. uh… yea." She finally answered.

**Woop! This chapter was pretty long! I was thinking about adding more, but, just like the last chapter, I think it was the perfect spot to end, and I can start the next chapter with the conversation to come! I wanted to make it seem like Derek's sister really wanted to get to know Meredith better, but I'm not so sure that came across. But, Whatever! And, please keep reviewing because I love hearing back from you guys! Remember, If you have an idea that you think should happen in the story, tell me and I'll consider it all! Thanks again! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Honestly, I don't like this chapter that much. I've had very bad writers block yesterday and today. I feel like everything could have been written better and been more exciting, like the conversations were boring and didn't really make sense. I just felt like I needed to put it out there, and get past these boring parts fast to get to something better. Hopefully I'll figure out something exciting to add in soon. Maybe, you'll enjoy these stupid and cheesy convos. Also, I put in a little aout Derek and Addison's past relationships, but I hope to expand on it more later.**

"Oh, this is soo exciting!" Amelia screeched.

Meredith could feel her face blushing.

Lizzie clasped her hands together in excitement. "You're having another baby!"

"I bet Derek is so excited!" Kathleen smiled. "He's always wanted lots of kids."

"How far along are you?" Nancy asked.

"Only 11 weeks." Meredith responded, putting her hand on her belly.

"So, tell us the details!" Lizzie demanded.  
"What details?"

"How'd you find out, how'd you tell Derek, you know, that kind of stuff!" Explained Lizzie.

"Oh, It's really not that interesting." Meredith didn't want to talk about herself anymore. She looked at her watch. "I'll tell you guys another time, I need to put Bailey down for a nap." She stood up. "Oh, and please don't tell anyone else that I'm pregnant. Derek wanted to tell everyone while we were here."

'We wont!" They assured her. As Meredith walked away, she could hear them still talking about another Shepherd baby.

Meredith picked up Bailey. "Hey Bailey, you ready to go night-night?"

Bailey smiled then rested his head on Merediths shoulder. He was exhausted from all the playing.

"Let's go find daddy!" She told him.

"Da-da!" Bailey responded.

"Yea, now, where do you think he is?" She turned around and saw Derek walking towards them.  
"Will you put up the pack & play thing, It's already time for a nap!" Meredith asked Derek.

"Yea, sure." Responded Derek, kissing his son on the head. "I didn't realize the time."  
"Yea, me neither." They made their way upstairs. "I'm pretty sure Bailey is exhausted from playing with his cousins."

"Yea, I think he really likes them!" Derek said. "I was watching them for awhile."

While Derek set up the pack & play, Meredith read Bailey a book, which put him to sleep almost instantly. She lowered him in the crib, smiling.

"What if our next baby is crazy and hates to sleep?" Meredith joked as they walked out of the room. "Apparently I was like that, so it's a real possibility."

"Oooh, I don't know. Bailey will be almost at the age where he doeesn't need naps, so it will be real crazy." He smiled at his wife and laughed. "It'll be okay,though, we'll figure it out when we get that far." He said and took Merediths hand

"Yea," Meredith agreed. "Your sisters figured it out, by the way."

"What? Seriously?" Derek asked, as they went down the stairs. "How?"

"I'm not sure, I didn't ask, but I'm guessing it's because I kept refusing to drink their wine."  
"That would be it!" Derek smiled. "They always know everything."  
Meredith laughed. "I wish I could of seen my face when they asked me if I was pregnant. I was shocked."

"I bet." Laughed Derek.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to tell them!"

"I really don't care Mer!" They turned into the kitchen and saw Carolyn facing them. She had a huge smile across her face. Derek and Meredith looked at each other, they knew, that she too, now knew Meredith was pregnant.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything, but you're pregnant?" Carolyn asked them, smiling with her eyebrows raised in question.

"Yea." Meredith smiled. "I am!"

Carolyn gave Derek and Meredith a hug. "Congratulations! This is so exciting! Best Christmas present ever!"

"I guess we should have been more quiet…" Derek laughed.  
"Yea. At least we don't have to keep it a secret anymore. Everyone always knows my secrets!" Meredith laughed.

"How far along?"

"11 weeks." Derek responded, still smiling.

"That'll make 17 grandkids!" Carolyn looked like she might cry. "I need another hug!" She hugged Meredith again.

"Oh, my food!" Carolyn cried, running back to the stove. "I'll expect you to tell me more later!"

"We will." Meredith responded.

"I guess I'll go tell all the guys, you can just go sit with my sisters some more!" Derek smiled at Meredith as they walked out the door. "Are you warming up to them yet?"

"Oh, mostly I guess." Meredith sighed. "They are very nosy, and only want to talk about us, not them."

"It's because our lives are very interesting." Derek laughed. "And exciting." Derek kissed her on the cheek and returned talking to the other guys. Meredith turned to head back towards the sisters and was surprised when only Kathleen was there.

"Where is everyone?" Meredith asked as she took her seat back.  
"Nancy and Liz were having kid troubles or something and Amy went inside to help mom."

"Your mom knows I'm pregnant now too. She heard me and Derek talking about it so now everyone important knows I guess." Meredith forced a smile.  
"That's good." Kathleen smiled.  
"Yea." Meredith responded, biting her lip. They sat in silence for a few moments before Meredith asked "So, uh, do you work?"  
"Yes. I'm a pediatrician. I actually work at a doctors office a few miles from here." Kathleen smiled. "My husband works part-time in accounting, so he is home a lot to take care of the kids."

"That's nice." Meredith said. She really didn't know anything about Kathleen, besides her name. "Uh, how many kids do you have?" was the only other question Meredith could think of to ask.  
"5!" Kathleen laughed at Meredith's surprised face. "It's a handful, but it's really fun."  
"Must've been hard when they were young." Meredith smiled. "I can barely handle 2 kids."

"It was, but it is so much easier now that they are older. My youngest is 8 his name is Zack, then Claire is 13, Jack and Eva are 15, and Lisa just turned 16."

"Can't say I will remember that, but I'll try!" Meredith said nervously, picking at her nails.

"You and Derek will be fine with 3 kids. You'll figure it out." Kathleen said, sensing her nervousness.

"I hope so." Meredith said, looking up at Kathleen.

"You know, you can always call me, or any of us, if you need help. We are your sisters too."  
"I know, I do, I've just never had sisters, I mean I did but I didn't know her until it was too late then she died."

"I'm sorry about her. Lexie right? Mark's girl?"

"Yea. I miss them."

"I miss Mark too. There must be something about these Grey girls that my brothers like!" Kathleen joked, lighting up the mood.

Meredith laughed back. "Must be."

Kathleen looked at Meredith and smiled.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"Nothing…." Kathleen shook her head. "I always thought you'd be more like Addison, like my brother missed her or something after he left New York and found you to fill that gap. But, I can tell now, you are the complete opposite of Addie."

"I get that a lot. I can't tell if it's good or bad."

"Oh, it's very good! My mom never liked Addie, but the first time she met you, she liked you. I think you might be her new favorite child. Giving her all these new grandkids and things." Kathleen joked.

"Why do you always say Derek is your moms favorite child?" Meredith asked. This is a question she has always wondered.

"Her only boy, Very successful, perfect job, perfect house, perfect kids, perfect wife, perfect life!" She said, laughing.

"Oh, I'm far from perfect, very far. Our life, my life, may seem perfect now, but never in the past, we've been through a lot." Meredith blushed, she liked that people thought her life was perfect. She knew it was not though. "Was he still the favorite child when he was married to Addison?"

"Yea, but mostly because he is her only son, and because she didn't know about all the struggles in Derek's marriage, and she still thought that Derek and Addison would have had kids eventually. I doubt it though, she didn't want kids in the beginning and then her relationship got rocky I don't think she spoke to Derek that often, much less talk about having kids with him."

"Did she and Derek really have that bad of a relationship before she slept with Mark?" Meredith was curious. She and Derek rarely spoke about his marriage with Addison. It was awkward for both of them, and it is in the past.

"Addison always said that Derek always seemed like he didn't want to spend a lot of time with her anymore, fought a lot, and didn't agree on lots of things. I think it was like that in the beginning, but Derek thought he loved Addison and she pushed him into a marriage, and Derek's not the kind of guy to just end a thing like that, especially after 10 years. But, I think you know that."  
"Derek loved her in the beginning though, right?" Meredith asked.  
"Well, yea, but she was his first serious relationship, I think he did love her, but they were just too different."

Meredith bit her lip. What if Derek would just stop loving her? What if they grew apart, what if they only make it 10 years? Meredith really knew that Derek loved her and always would, but she still always had the thought in the back of her mind.

"But, I can tell Derek will always love you, and he'll never leave you. I can tell."

"How can you tell?"

"The same way my mom knew that you were the right girl for Derek even though she barely talked to you. You just know."

"Didn't you know Addison was the right girl?"

"Oh, well, we were all skeptical at first, then the years went past and they were fine, and we started thinking that maybe she was the one, but then we learned about their problems. We were surprised they lasted 10 years, honestly."

"Oh." Was the only response Meredith could think of.

"Yea, well I can tell you really love Derek too, especially because you got back together with him after you found out he had a wife." Kathleen laughed.

"Trust me, I tried to forget about him everyday when Derek chose Addison, but I couldn't." Meredith laughed, remembering the old days. "That was some hard times."

"Yea, I bet!" Laughed Kathleen. "I think I can tell, I can tell because even though this is my first time meeting you, every time you and Derek are together, you both lighten up, just being together makes you guys happy."

"Yea, I guess that is true." Meredith thought about it, she remembered that when she was broken up with Derek, she felt comfortable in his presence, and that's why they had breakup sex. She felt safe in his arms. And when that stopped, she longed to feel that safe. She was miserable the whole time. "Just being together is enough." Meredith told her. "We don't need gifts, or flowers, or big fancy rings to remember that we still love each other. We just know."

"Yea." This time, Kathleen didn't know what to say. She loved seeing her brother happen. "Thanks for telling me these things." She added.

"Thanks for making me realize it!" Meredith laughed nervously.

"Let's go eat lunch."

"Sounds good."

Meredith got up and made her way inside, feeling all warm and fuzzy. She wanted to tell Derek that she really liked Kathleen, and about their conversations, and how she was glad they got to come. But, that would have to wait for tonight, in private.

**Just like I say at the end of every chapter, Thanks for Reading! And, feel free to tell me what you want to see in the upcoming chapters, I know they will be better than this one! I love input! Thanksssss! Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, thanks for pushing through the last chapter, because it sucked! Hopefully, you will find this chapter more interesting! It has a lot of Zola cuteness in it! :) Time has passed, It is now Christmas Eve. I was running out of stuff to do, and I wanted to get past the awkward sister conversations, so I'm just going to sum up the last few days in the first paragraph!**

The last few days, Meredith's pregnancy seemed to be the subject on everyone's mind. Word quickly got around to all her nieces and nephews. There were lots of hugs and squeals, but Meredith didn't mind as much anymore. The more time she spend with the Shepherds, the more she realized she belonged in the family. She felt like everyone finally accepted her because they got to know her. During the day, Meredith spent most of the time hanging out around the house, she had mostly memorized the names of all her nieces and nephews, and enjoyed spending time with them. She'd braid the girls hair or do their makeup. One day, all the girls went and got their nails done. Zola really enjoyed it and showed every male in the house when they got home. Another day, they had taken all the kids to the mall to sit on Santa's lap. Bailey cried when he was sat down on Santa's lap, but Zola, being the outgoing 4-year-old she was, talked to Santa about everything she wanted- from surgery scrubs like her mommy and daddy's to princess barbie dolls. Most nights, Carolyn, Meredith, Amy and Kathleen stayed up late together wrapping up the Christmas presents, laughing, and telling stories. Meredith had really grown close to those three in the last few days.

Meredith was the first one awake this morning. She loved waking up in the morning seeing Zola snuggling in between her and Derek. Instead of making Zola sleep on the floor, they let her sleep in their bed while Bailey was in his pack & play. She silently crept out of bed and into the bathroom to shower. While showering, Meredith peered down to her stomach. She wouldn't be able to hide it anymore when she got back to Seattle, her scrubs would be a little too tight. Her stomach is definitely bigger than it was at this time during her last pregnancy. She'll be 13 weeks when she goes back to Seattle since they were staying through New Years. Derek and Meredith haven't told anybody in Seattle. In fact, Meredith hasn't even told Christina, who still lives in Zurich. Whilst in the shower, Meredith decided that she would call Christina soon and tell her. She got out of the shower and brushed the tangles out of her hair.

There was a knock on the door, Derek walked in.

"You should have woken me up, we could have showered together!" Derek joked, giving his wife a good morning kiss.

"Derek, I'm not going to have sex with you at your moms house!" She scolded him. "That's just weird!"

"You're not going to be able to hold out for another week…" Derek smiled. "Especially with your pregnancy hormones!" He winked at her.

"I'll manage!" She smiled, dropping her towel and changing into her clothes.

"Are you mocking me?" He said, staring at his beautiful, naked wife.

"hmm, nope." She smirked. "Just changing!" She pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Mean!" Derek joked, as he pulled Meredith in for a kiss, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"I think I have a plan!" Derek said, not letting go of her waist.  
"I already told you," She said, pushing herself away. "No sex at your mommy's house!"

Derek pulled her back in. "Not here, a hotel?"

"Hotel?" Meredith questioned, putting her arms around Derek's neck.  
"Yea, before we go back to Seattle, we'll get my mom to watch the kids for a night, and stay at a hotel." He kissed her on the lips. "She wouldn't say no."

"Mhmm, sounds good!" Meredith agreed, kissing Derek back. She pulled away. "You shower," She ordered. "I'll wake the kids, and we can talk to your mom later and set a date." She smiled. "I love your plan!" She added, walking out.  
"I love you!" Derek responded, starting his shower.

"Zozo, lovebug, time to wake up!" Meredith said, gently nudging her daughter awake. "Good Morning!" She said as Zola opened her eyes.

"Is Santa coming today?" Zola asked groggily.

"He is tonight, next time you go to sleep he'll bring you lots of presents!" Meredith explained.

"I'll sleep now!" Zola said, squeezing her eyes shut as tight as she could.

Meredith giggled. "You can't do that! We have to make cookies for Santa today, and leave out food for the reindeers!"

"Cookies?" Zola opened her eyes again.

"Yea, so we need to wake up, so we can help Grandma!"

"Right now?" She asked, sitting up and rolling out of bed.

"Well, first we need to get dressed and eat breakfast, and then you can play with your cousins for awhile, THEN we can make cookies!" Meredith explained, helping Zola pull off her pajamas.

"Can I wear my Cwistmas dress this day?" She asked.

"That's for tommorow!" She said, pulling on a pair of white and grey leggings.

"I can put my shirt on!" She told her mom, taking it from her hands. She pulled the long red shirt over her head. "See?"

"Good job!" Meredith said, rolling up the sleeves a little. "Go find your cousins downstairs while I change Bailey!"

"Okay!" She responded, and ran out the door.

Meredith dressed Bailey and headed downstairs with Derek for breakfast. When they left, Meredith would miss waking up to breakfast every morning and the constant babysitters. From the top of the stairs, she could hear Zola and Elena, Lizzie's 9 year old daughter, singing 'Let it Go' from the Disney movie _Frozen_. It was Zola's newest favorite movie, it changed a lot. Meredith smiled, happy kids always put her in the best mood, made it feel like she could handle 3 kids when the new baby was born. As soon as Zola saw Meredith and Derek round the corner into the living room she stopped singing and ran to them.  
"It's snowing, it's snowing!" She said, jumping up and down. Meredith looked out the window. There was a very thin layer of snow on the ground, but it was coming down heavy. Zola has seen snow before, but it was special today because it was Christmas Eve. It looked like they were going to have a white Christmas.

Derek picked up his daughter. "I see that, lovebug!" He said, kissing his daughter on the forehead. "We can play in it later, when there is more on the ground." He told her.

"Okay." Zola wiggled out of her arms. "We are playing frozen right now anyways!" She said, and made her way back to Elena.

"Can I take Bailey!?" Eva, Kathleen's daughter, showed up at Meredith's side, holding her hand's out.

"Sure!" Meredith smiled, handing her son to them. "We have lots of toys upstairs if you need something to play with!" She added.  
"Okay!" Eva said, smiling, tickling Bailey on the stomach. Casey, Nancy's daughter, and Lisa, Eva's older sister, joined her as they made their way, giggling up the stairs.

"How is it we always end up with no kids before breakfast?" Meredith joked, heading into the kitchen.  
"I guess are kids are just popular!" He smiled.

"Hey, ma!" Derek said, smiling. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Oh, sure, anything dear!" Carolyn responded, still stirring cookie batter.

"One night, before we leave, I'd like to take Mer out, maybe spend the night at the hotel or something, just to get away from the kids for awhile. Would you be willing to watch them for a night?" Derek asked.  
"Oh, you know I'd love to!" Carolyn smiled. "And, I think it's a great idea! Everyone deserves a break!"

"Thanks Ma!" Derek said, placing a kiss on his moms head. "We'll talk about what day today, probably after the new year."

"Any day is fine to me, oh, and send in a few of the older kids, I need help rolling the dough and cutting the shapes!" She added.

"Will do!" He said, walking out.

"What do you think about the 2nd?" Derek asked Meredith.

"That sounds good, since we are leaving the 4th." Meredith kissed Derek. "Thanks for planning this!" She said.

"Anything for you!" He responded. "Oh, and it's almost time to decorate cookies!"

When it was time to decorate the cookies, Zola ran to take a seat next to Amanda, who was now her favorite cousin. Bailey was placed in a high chair next to Zola and Claire, who was Kathleen's 13 year old daughter that adored babies, especially Bailey. The table was full of all kinds of sprinkles and frosting. Each child was given some cookies, a bunch of different shapes, some were gingerbread men, or reindeer, or even a santa claus face. As the kids decorated, the adults stood towards the back of the kitchen, taking more cookies out of the oven, or replacing cookie decorating supplies. The older kids, naturally, helped the younger ones. Everyone, even the older kids, seemed to enjoy decorating cookies. Bailey, who couldn't really decorate cookies, enjoyed dipping his spoon in frosting and eating it. The sprinkles had to be taken away from him because he just poured them everywhere. Zola, on the other hand, placed each sprinkle one by one. She'd reach into the bowl and grab the color sprinkle she wanted and placed it on her cookie, her face in extreme concentration. Each cookie only had a few random placed sprinkles on each, but to Zola, they were the best cookies ever. She had the whole room giggling at her, never seeing a child decorate like that before. Zola's frosting was a whole nother story. The kind in the squeezable pouched was her favorite. She'd squeeze it all over her cookies, then more in her mouth. By the time they were done, Bailey was covered in white frosting, while Zola had green all over her mouth and hands. Since the other kids were older, 8 being the next youngest, they were relatively clean. They enjoyed their young cousins presence.

"Picture time!" Kathleen smiled, skipping towards the table with her professional camera. The first picture she took was of Claire, Bailey, Zola, and Amanda. Everyone was smiling, even Bailey. Amanda and Claire stood behind Zola and Bailey, their hands on their shoulders. Zola held up her green hands. Her smile was wide and teethy, she was excited, and a little buzzed from her sugar high. Bailey looked like he was laughing. Amanda and Claire looked cute, as always, with their dark curly brown hair and perfect smiles. The picture was possibly the cutest thing ever.

"This one is being framed!" Kathleen squealed, moving on to take more picture.

"You'll have to send it too me!" Meredith added, noticing the pictures cuteness

Meredith decided, in that moment, that she was going to keep this tradition, even if they couldn't make it to Connecticut for Christmas, she could see the pure happiness on her children's faces.

After the cookie decorating wrapped up, all the adults started cleaning up.  
"I'm going to take these 2 up for a bath before they get all over everything!" Meredith laughed, picking up Bailey. "Come on Zo, time for a bath!"

Meredith started up a bath for Zola and Bailey. She made sure the water wasn't too hot and added bubble bath too it. Waiting for it to fill more, Meredith set out the towels and their pajamas. They were special matching Christmas pajamas, another tradition Meredith wanted to have for her kids. As Meredith undressed Bailey and lowered him into the tub, Zola undressed herself and climbed in.

As Meredith was washing Bailey's hair, Zola giggled.  
"Look mommy, I'm Santa Claus!" She stuck the bubbles to her chin, like a beard. "Ho, Ho Ho!" SHe said, laughing at herself.

Meredith laughed along with her. She grabbed her phone and took a picture. "You're so silly Zo!" She said.

"I'll do Bailey!" Zola said, placing the bubbles on his face. This called for another picture. Bathtub pictures were a must. After washing her kids, she left them playing as she put up the shampoo and body wash under the sink. She could here Zola talking to Bailey.

"Are excited for Santa Claus to come?" She asked him.  
"Santa caus!" Bailey exclaimed, splashing his hands into the water.

"Yea, Bailey!" She said. "He's going to bring lots of presents, for me, and you, and our cousins!"

"Presents!" Bailey repeated, probably not knowing what he was saying.

"That's a new word mom!" Zola screamed. "He said presents!" Zola knew that her mom and dad were tracking all the word's Bailey knew how to say. He was up to about 30 words that he would repeat, which is very good for his age.

"I heard!" Meredith smiled at her daughter. "Good Job Bailey!"

"yea!" Zola said. "Good job, you are such a big boy!" She patted him on the back. It was funny when she repeated things Derek and her would say to Bailey. It was cute. She was a great big sister. She and Derek haven't talked about when they would tell Zola about her new brother or sister. It would have to be soon-ish, but whenever it was, she knew Zola would be thrilled.

Meredith went back to putting up the bath items.

Derek walked in. "How are my babies doing?" He asked, as he peered at the bathtub, but kneeled by the sink to help Meredith clean up.

"You should hear Zola talking to Bailey! It's hilarious!" She laughed. "Oh, and remind me to show you some cute pictures later!"

After cleaning up, Derek and Meredith decided not to interrupt the conversations Zola was trying to have with Bailey, it was very entertaining and funny. Derek and Meredith smiled at each other, then leaned in for a kiss. They were glad Zola loved Bailey so much. It was moments like this that they wished they could stay in together.

**Thanks for reading! I really liked writing this chapter! Who's ready for a Shepherd Christmas!?**

**I hope I'll be able to finish the next chapter by tommorow night, but I'm not sure because I have to finish some summer homework I have before school starts... Tommorow's Wednesday and school starts Thursday! AHHHHH! NOOO! But, hopefully, I will still have time to get regular updates in! I will try my best! Thanks again for reading! If there is anything you want to see in the story, don't forget to tell me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I've been having a lot of writer's block recently, most likely because of school, it just started :( and I've been stressing about finishing my summer work (#Gifted/APclassprobs)... Probably also because I'm trying to get chapters out fast, and my brain just wants to say NO! But Thank you all so much for leaving nice reviews. It literally makes my day everytime I read them! I'm SOOOO glad you are enjoying this, I've had a lot of fun writing it so far! I'm also sad to say that the updates are going to slow down because of school, I guess it just depends on how much homework I have and how tired I am…. I have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get to Cross country practice at 6…. That sucks so much. Okay, too much talk about my personal life, lets get back to the story! It starts Christmas Morning!**

*Knock* *Knock* There was a knock on the door where Meredith and Derek were sleeping.

Derek rubbed his eyes and sat up. Meredith yawned, then rolled over, letting Derek deal with the person at their door.

Lizzie entered. "Merry Christmas!" She said with false enthusiasm. Derek could tell she was tired too.  
"What are you doing in here?" Derek asked, yawning.

"Kids are up and ready to open presents" She smiled. "It's time to get up, we can't keep them waiting much longer."  
Meredith sat up in the bed and looked at the clock. "Everyone's up?" She asked. "It's 5:10?"  
"Nancy's waking mom and Amy up, but all the kids are up-besides Bailey." She looked at the crib in the corner of their room. "It's 10 minutes later than last year!" She laughed. "Anyway, you guys better be out in 5 minutes, these kids are already bouncing off the walls to get downstairs!" She said, walking out the door.

Meredith and Derek rolled out of bed, then pulled on more acceptable clothes. Derek fixed his hair and Meredith pulled hers into a ponytail.

"Should we wake up Bailey?" Meredith asked, standing over his crib.

"I think so." Derek responded. "We can't just leave him up here." Derek yawned

Meredith bent down and picked up Bailey, rubbing his back. "Hey Bailey." She smiled at him as he yawned and woke up. "Santa came!"

Zola ran into her parents room.

"Aunt Liz said TIME TO GO!" She yelled, a wide smile ran across her face, she could barely stand still. "Come on! Santa comed!" Zola said, pulling her Dad's hand out the door. Meredith followed with Bailey.

Everyone was waiting upstairs. The younger kids were getting antsy waiting at the top of the stairs, the older kids were standing in the back, yawning or rubbing their eyes.

"Okay! You can go!" Carolyn said when she noticed Meredith and Derek coming.

There was a mad rush of kids going down the stairs. Zola let go of Derek's hand and followed her cousins downstairs.

"Merry Christmas!" Derek said to Meredith, leaning in to kiss her before heading downstairs.

"Stockings first!" Lizzie directed.

The living room was crammed. 25 stockings were hung on the chimney, or on the wall, some even were propped up against chairs. There were presents everywhere, under the tree, around the tree, along the wall, stacked on top of chairs. 15 kids littered the floor, dumping out their stockings, while the 10 adults took pictures or sat on chairs and couches around the room. Meredith and Derek squeezed next to each other in an armchair, because there was no room on the couch, holding hands.

Zola would run up to her mom and dad, excitedly showing them each present she opened, before returning to the stack left to open. Zola gasped and smiled and oohed at each present she opened. Meredith giggled as she watched Zola open each present.

Bailey was sitting right next to his sister, someone had put a Santa hat on him, but he didn't seem to mind. He was too busy tearing apart the wrapping paper. In fact, he didn't even seem to care what he was opening, he just liked unwrapping.

"Breakfast is ready!" Carolyn called out, after all the presents had been opened.

Everyone made their way to the table. Zola was wearing the princess crown and plastic high heels she had gotten for Christmas with her pajamas. She wobbled over to the table and pulled herself into a seat

"She walks in those better than you!" Derek joked, sitting down next to Meredith.

Meredith glared at Derek. "Shut up!" She smiled, playfully nudging him in the stomach with her elbow. "That's not true, most of the time!" Meredith laced her fingers into Derek's and ate with her other hand.

During breakfast, everyone went around the table saying their favorite gift. Just to name a few, Carolyn's was the picture of all her grandchildren together, Amanda's was a new laptop, Zack got a video game he's been wanting forever, Zola loved her new baby doll, and Nancy was already wearing the sapphire and diamond ring her husband had gotten her.

Nancy almost spit the food out of her mouth. "You guys are holding hands?!" She asked, laughing, after she noticed Meredith and Derek's hands dangling below the table.

Meredith blushed. "Are we not allowed to?" She asked sarcastically. There were a few giggles throughout the table.

"No! You're allowed to! Its..." Nancy responded, still laughing. "It's just, It's, I.. I don't know, it's just funny!"

"I think it's cute!" Amy chimed in. "If I had a husband I would never let go of his hand!" She joked. Amy was the only one of the Shepherd's who hasn't been married or had any kids. She was engaged once, but broke it off.

"When are you going to get on that?" Kathleen joked. Meredith was glad they changed the subject away from her.

Amy's face changed to a more serious demeanor. Kathleen noticed, and eyed her sister.

"Spill!" She ordered. Kathleen knew Amy was keeping big news.

"Well, after I moved here, I decided I didn't want to start a new relationship here because, well," She sighed. "Well, I didn't want to start a new relationship here because I'm going to move soon." She bit her lip, wondering how everyone would take the news. "I was going to tell you guys soon. I promise." She added quickly.

Carolyn gasped. "What?"

All heads turned to Amy.

Kathleen stopped eating mid bite. "Where are you possibly moving too?" She asked. Everyone was shocked, but eager for her answer.

"Seattle." Amy said quickly, glancing at Meredith and Derek. Both of their jaws dropped.

"Our Seattle?" Derek asked confused. "What?"

"No Derek, the other Seattle!" She rolled her eyes. She started to explain. "So back when I visited you guys, Derek told me I should get a job there, to solve whatever problem you guys were having." She paused. Derek remembered that. The D.C. project, Meredith's research. "But I didn't think it was a good idea, and came back home. But then, a few weeks later, I realized that I wanted to start over somewhere else. So, I called you, to see if you still needed your problem solved or whatever, so maybe you could convince the chief to give me a job, but your problem was solved, so I didn't ask, so I just went straight to the chief…" She admitted, looking at people's reaction. "I asked him if he had a job available, he said no, but he had said that he would call the second something came available."

"Wait, You called Owen?" Meredith interrupted.

"Yea, he's the chief…." Amy said.

"He didn't even tell us….." Meredith trailed off, looking at Derek in disbelief. "Okay, sorry, back to your story!"

"Well, anyway, a few month's ago, he called and said that Shadow Shepherd… uhhh, umm. Dr. Nelson!," She exclaimed, remembering his name. "Is going to retire at the end of this year, and I could have his job." She looked at Derek.

Derek knew that Nelson was retiring this year, he'd told Owen that he would help find someone to replace him, but Owen said he already knew someone that could. _Damn._ Derek thought. _I should've known! _Derek and Meredith were actually missing his retirement party to come here. "Wait, so you're starting in January, like in one week?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "At Grey Sloan?"

"Yea," She said calmly. "That is the plan…"

"Owen hired you?" Meredith asked. "It's official?"

"Yea," She smiled. "He even said he'll give me a group of the new interns starting!" She said enthusiastically.

"Where are you staying?" Derek asked.

"Well…" She bit her lip. Derek and Meredith knew where this was going. "I was going to ask if I could stay at your house for a little while… until I found a more permanent place"

"No!" Derek started to say immediately, but was interrupted by Meredith who elbowed his side.

"Of course you can!" Meredith said, giving Derek the evil eye. Derek gave her the 'We are going to talk about this later' eye back.

Amy smiled. "See, this is why I had to wait, to get your wife on my side!" She joked.

"When were you going to tell us?" Carolyn asked, sadly. She liked having her kids around.

"Oh, sometime this week. I just, hadn't got around to it." Amy smiled.

"Well, That's very good for you." Carolyn responded, trying to sound pleased for her daughter

There was an awkward silence, everyone was still shocked from the news. No one knew what to say next.

**Whoo! Well, hope you are excited that Amy is coming to Seattle! What do you think? Is it a good idea? And I'm sorry I didn't get too much into the Christmas details, I wasn't sure what I wanted to put (Like I said, MAJOR writers block!) But, At least the next chapter will have a little more Christmas in it, and a while lot of interesting convos! I'm probably going to send Mer and Der back to Seattle in the next chapter or 2, It's been drawn on long enough. Oh, and I know that the new interns don't start in January, but I decided they would in my story because I wanted to make it more interesting! Also, sorry About all the grammar mistakes, since it took me so long to finally write it, I wanted to get it out quick, since it's been so long. Anyways, Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Especially the ending! Do you see Amelia starting a relationship with anyone at Grey Sloan? **


	7. Chapter 7

**I LOVE LOVE LOVE good reviews! It makes my day! Thanks again for keeping on reading and reviewing and following and favoriting! The 'S' key on my keyboard is being weird and sometimes doesn't type when I press it so if you see a lot of missing S's sorry, but I think I got almost all of them proofreading! Anyway's this chapter is short and sweet! One more Christmas chapter after this!**

"So," Kathleen said, trying to comprehend everything, "You got a job in Seattle which you have known about for months, and you are leaving in a week, and just decided to tell us now?"

"Yea," Amelia said, taking another bite of her breakfast. "Basically."

"What the hell Amelia?" Nancy said, a few of the children's head turned when they heard the bad word. They were sitting on the other side of the table, so they couldn't hear their conversations. "You can't just move across the country so quick!"

"It's not quick, I've been thinking about it for months!" She defended. "Plus, Derek did it, look how his life turned out!" Meredith felt herself blushing.

"Derek's story isn't like yours is! Derek's wife cheated on him, he had to get away!" Nancy spat back. "You have everything you need here!"

"Except the fact is, that I don't want to be here!" She frowned. "I need to start over, I can do that in Seattle. I've worked in the hospital for a week, it was good for me, I enjoyed it!" She sighed. "I don't enjoy it where I work now!"

"Guys, calm down!" Kathleen pleaded. "We can talk about this later!"

"No, we can't. We won't!" Amelia snapped. "The reason I didn't tell you I was moving earlier was because of you, well, and Derek, but he's taking it surprisingly well, probably because of Meredith…." She rambled, getting off topic. "Anyways." She said, "I knew you would try to convince me to stay, and I'm not being convinced. I've already made my decision. I've thought about it for a long time. I'm moving, End of discussion!" She finished with a huff.

Nancy rolled her eyes. She looked pissed.

Meredith bit her lip, it was a nervous habit, and looked at Derek. Derek shrugged.

Carolyn laughed. "So what were we talking about earlier?" She said, changing the subject.

"Amy moving." Nancy said under her breath."

"Drop it!" Carolyn hissed at her.

"So Meredith!" Kathleen said, smiling at her. "How's your first Christmas been so far?!" She asked.

Meredith smiled. "It's been great!" She said, sincerely "I think the kids have really enjoyed it too!"

"Does that mean you'll come back next Christmas?"

"Yea, definitely!" Meredith said. "If it's not too crazy with another baby…."

"You'll have Amelia over there too fly with your anyway." Nancy snidely remarked.

"That is true!" Meredith smiled at Amelia.

"You guys will let me come over when the baby is born right?" Kathleen said eagerly.

"We could probably use you!" Derek smirked.

"I'll be out there too!" Carolyn said. "You know I wouldn't miss a new grandbaby!"

"Cristina is coming too." Meredith told Derek. "We are going to have a full house!"

"Nonsense!" Laughed Amelia. "That house is huge!"

"Wait, Cristina is coming?" Derek questioned. "You told her already?" He looked confused.

"Well, no" Meredith admitted. "But, I know she will come!"

"Who's Cristina?" Kathleen asked.

"Cristina Yang, my friend from intern year." Meredith said. "She moved to Zurich about a year ago."

Meredith missed Cristina all the time, but she knew that Zurich was where Cristina needed to be.

"She was Meredith's best friend." Derek laughed. "She even has a room at our house!"

"Well, I can't wait to come down to see this house of yours!" Kathleen smiled. "From what I have been hearing, It's very nice!"

The rest of the breakfast, the conversation went from the house, to the baby, to everyone's kids, to past Christmases, and even back to favorite Christmas gifts. Everyone seem to have forgotten Amy's big news, for now. They were too busy laughing and eating to care.

Meredith paced up and down the back porch, hoping Cristina would pick up the phone. Meredith thought Christmas would be a good day to tell Cristina, she shouldn't have too much going on right now.

_Come on, pick up! _Meredith thought to herself. Then suddenly:

"Meredith?" Christina answered the phone.

"Hey Cristina!" Meredith smiled. "Merry Christmas!"

"You too!" Cristina spoke. "How's it been going at the Shepherds? Are they driving you crazy?"

Meredith laughed. "No, It's been actually really fun! I'm glad we came."

"So Meredith's a family girl now?" Cristina groaned.

"No, I mean…. Yea" She admitted. "I like having them around, and the kids really like their cousins. Especially Zola."

"See, kids have definitely turned you soft!" Christina joked. "Tell Zozo and Bailey Aunt Christina said hi!"

"Listen to you!" Meredith joked. "But I will, how's Christmas over there?"

"Oh, you know, same old same old. There is a few christmas decorations in the hospital, got a few gifts from suck up employee's." Christina's voice lit up. "Oh, I gotta tell you something!" She said eagerly.

"Me too!" Meredith said. "You first!"

There was a *beep**beep**beep* in the background.

"Shit." Cristina hissed. " It's an emergency. I really got to go, but I'm coming in Seattle in a few weeks for a patient!" She said excitedly. Meredith could hear Cristina moving in the background. "Text your's to me, I really have to go, but I want to know!" She said quickly.

"I'll just call later!" Meredith said quickly, hoping Cristina would hear her before she hung up.

A few moment's later, Cristina's news had finally sunk in. Meredith was going to see her best friend soon. She sent a text to Cristina. 'Text me the details! I'm so excited, I'll tell you my news later.'

Meredith bounced inside to go tell Derek.

**So, I hope you enjoyed this short little chapter. Well, now we have Christina coming to visit even sooner! YAY! Thanks for reading, follow, review, or favorite if you are enjoying my story! Stay tuned for more!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I now have 2 stories going, so updates may take longer! I'm sorry! I just really wanted to start this other story, so you can also read that if you'd like! This is going to be the last Christmas/ Shepherd's chapter, and a few days have passed since the last chapter! So the next chapter will be back in Seattle! This chapter starts the morning after Derek and Meredith's night away from everyone. It's just a bunch of fluff….**

Meredith groaned as she rolled over, her body sore from dirty sex all night long. She opened her eyes and noticed Derek waking up too.

"We should do this more often." Meredith said, kissing Derek on the lips.

"Mmmm, we should!" Derek said, pulling in Meredith closer.

Meredith was about to kiss Derek again when she noticed the clock over his shoulder. She pushed herself away.

"Derek, It's already 12 o'clock!" She said alarmingly.

"Hm?" Derek said, confused.

"We have to check out at 1!" She started to sit up, but Derek pulled her back down.

"A few more minutes won't hurt!" Derek wrapped his arms around her, kissing her in bed.  
"Derek, no!" She said sadley. "I wish, but seriously, I have to shower and we have to pack up!" She pulled away. Derek sighed.

"You know," Meredith smirked. "If we shower together, it'll save time!"

Derek chuckled. "You know I can't resist!"

"When's mommy and daddy going to get home?" Zola asked while coloring a picture on the kitchen table.

"In a few hours." Carolyn responded, cutting strawberries for lunch. "Are you hungry yet?" She asked.

"Yea, but i'm coloring a picture for mommy." Zola said, still concentrating on her picture.

"What are you drawing?" Carolyn placed the plate beside her and looked down at Zola's picture. "Is that your family?"

"This is mommy," Zola said pointing to a figure with long yellow hair, her body was a triangle with 4 lines sticking out- 2 for the arms, 2 for the legs. "This is daddy," She pointed to a figure with black hair and a rectangle body, with the same 4 protruding lines. "This is me," The figure she was pointing to this time was shorter with longer black hair and a triangle body, "and Bailey!" She pointed out last. This figure was the shortest, with a little bit of yellow hair and a rectangle body. At the top of the page was Zola's name, with a backwards Z written in bright pink, and next to that was an irregular shape that Carolyn had guessed was a heart.

"I bet your mommy will love that!" Carolyn house was quiet today. It is weird when the house is quiet, because the last 2 weeks was filled with a bunch of screaming kids.. But now, the only people home were Carolyn, Kathleen, Zola, and Bailey. Derek and Meredith were on their mini-vacation, and all the other adults took the kids to an amusement park for a last fun day on vacation, Bailey and Zola stayed home because of their age, and Kathleen wanted a break from her kids.

"I can't believe this is my last day with the cutest baby ever!" Kathleen exclaimed, walking into the kitchen with Bailey. Bailey's head was on her shoulder. "He almost fell asleep earlier, but Meredith always fed him lunch before his nap," She explained. "So I brought him down here."

"I made some Mac-n-cheese and cut up some strawberries, It's all on the counter."

An hour later, Bailey was upstairs napping and Zola was watching tv with her grandma. The doorbell rings.  
"I think it's mommy and daddy!" Carolyn sings, standing up to get the door.

"They're home!" Zola shouts as she jumps up off the couch and runs to get her picture from the kitchen.

"Mommy!" Zola exclaims as her mom walks through the door. Meredith picks her up into a hug. "Look what I drawed for you!" She waves the picture in front of Meredith's face. Meredith takes it into her hand and smiles.

"This is very pretty, lovebug." She says, kissing her daughter on the head. "Why don't you go show Daddy? He's outside." Meredith let her daughter down. As Zola ran outside, Meredith asked "Where's Bailey?"

"He's napping, Kathleen put him down around 45 minutes ago." Carolyn responded.

"I'm going to go peek on him.." Meredith said, then turned and walked upstairs.

That night, the adults ate dinner alone, the kids ate in the other room.

"Do you think you are having a boy or a girl?" Amy directed her question to Derek and Meredith. "What do you want to have?"

"I just want a healthy baby," Meredith began to say.

"So not true!" Nancy interrupted. "Everyone always says that, but they know, deep down inside!"

"Seriously," Meredith said, shrugging. "I don't care."

"Well I know," Kathleen said. "I hope you guys have a girl!"

"Me too!" Lizzie agreed.

"You guys are baby crazy!" Amy laughed. "Haven't you had enough already?"

"You can never have enough babies! Why do you think we had so many kids!?" She laughed. "But back on the subject of Derek's kids, if they had a girl, she'd be adorable, I can picture her already!" Kathleen laughed. Meredith blushed. "You guys make such cute kids, I mean, look at Bailey!"

Derek smiled. "Our girl would be pretty cute…"

"Derek wants a girl!" Nancy said. "Just look at his face!"

Everyone laughed.  
"I was raised with 4 sisters, it'd only be normal to be around more girls than boys!" He defended.

"How'd you find out your were pregnant?" Amy asked. "I can't believe we didn't get to these questions earlier!"

"It just, uhh, felt like the last 2…" Merethis stammered. "Uhh, It just felt like the last time." Meredith and Derek hadn't told anyone about their miscarriage except for Carolyn, She didn't mean to say 2, but it slipped. Meredith looked at Derek. This wasn't the time to tell everyone.

There was an awkward silence, the sisters all looked at each other, Amy was about to bring it up until Kathleen, sensing that this subject was private, interrupted. "How'd you tell Derek?" She asked.

"It was really nothing special…" Meredith said, glad the subject was changed. "I got an intern to take my blood while I was at the hospital- while I was reading the results apparently I was smiling too much," She laughed, remembering the moment. "Derek came over asked me about my patient, but I wouldn't tell him, so he managed to take the blood work away from me and saw for himself." She laughed.

"Derek!" Nancy scolded. "Why would you do that!"" She smiled.

Derek smiled, reminiscing in the moment. "No one looks that excited over a patient!" He laughed. "I had to know!"

"When Lizzie was pregnant with our first child," John, Lizzie's husband spoke, "I found out when I walked in on her peeing on the stick!" Everyone started laughing, Lizzie's face turned bright red. The rest of dinner, everyone told stories about their pregnancies or how they found out.

"I can't believe you guys have to leave tomorrow! Two weeks went by too fast!" Kathleen complained while helping Meredith pick up toys from around the house to pack up. Her and Meredith had gotten along really well, and became very good friends in the past two weeks.

"Honestly, when I came out here," Meredith laughed. "I thought it was going to be the longest 2 weeks ever," She smiled. "But, they were really fun, and really too fast." She reassured her.

" You aren't the only one who thought it'd be weird, Lizzie and Amy said it'd be fine, but everyone else was skeptical. My kids talked about you for days when they knew you guys were coming. We'd heard a lot about you before you came-mostly good stuff-, but I still didn't know what to expect." She put some of the toys in a suitcase. "I still don't know why my brother hid you out there for so long, you fit in great, and you are perfect for him, anyone ever tell you that?"

"All the time…" Meredith giggled. "It's probably my fault we never came here, I never wanted too. I didn't grow up with a family, so I didn't know, and the first time I met Nancy didn't go too well either." She admitted.

"You know, I was the one who told her to visit Derek way back then, Addison called me, and at the time, we were just very confused." She said. "All we heard was that Derek slept with an intern at some prom, we had to figure it out!" She laughed.

"Oh my gosh…" Meredith said, stroking her fingers through her hair, embarrassed. "That was some pretty bad times." She thought back, to Finn, and Doc, the prom, Denny. "That was so bad!" She laughed.

"But, It all worked out!" Kathleen cheered.

"It did."

Meredith and Kathleen laughed.

"You're life could be a tv show!" Kathleen joked.

The following morning was filled with hugs and pictures. Bailey and Zola were being passed around all the older cousins, wanting to take a picture to post on instagram or whatever. Bailey loved saying the word "Cheese" so he was very good at pictures.

Nancy, Lizzie, Kathleen, and Amy all stood around Meredith.

"You better text us lots of updates!" Lizzie demanded. "Or I will call all the time!" Lizzie laughed.

"She will," Nancy said. "So You'd better." Nancy gave Meredith a quick hug, they both liked each other now, but it was still awkward.

Amy was the next to hug her. "I'll see you guys in a few day!" She squealed. "I'm so excited!" Meredith had almost forgotten about Amelia's new job. She was going to live with them, for the time being. It'll be weird, but the kids will certainly love it.

"Mom and I will come right down when you go into labor, so call us!" Kathleen pleaded. She gave Meredith a big hug. "If you don't tell us the sex of the baby right when you find out, we'll go crazy!" She smiled. "We know your appointment date, we'll be expecting a text or call!" She warned. "You guys should come back for Easter though!" She insisted.

Meredith shrugged. "We'll try, but we're trying not to take many days off this year, so we can spend more time when the baby comes." Meredith explained. "But, I'll try to see if I can work something out…" She winked.

While Meredith talked to the sisters, Derek said goodbye to his mom.

"I'll see you in a few months." He said. "I'm glad we got to come."

"Me too," Carolyn said. "I'm glad I got to know Meredith and the kids better." She smiled.

"I told you Meredith was the one, Derek."

"I know she is Ma." Derek said, hugging his mom for the last time. "She's sticking around!" He laughed.

"I think everyone would have a fit if she didn't!"

"Thanks for having us!" Meredith smiled at Carolyn, while they were walking out the door. Derek was putting Bailey in the car. "Say bye to Grandma, Zo!"

"Really, anytime!" She said, bending down to give Zola a hug. "Don't grow too much between the next time I see you!" She joked with Zola. "See you in a few months! Keep us updated!"

"We will!" Meredith said, walking out the door.

She met Derek at the car and buckled in Zola. Zola started to cry, she didn't want to leave.

"I don't wanna go!" She cried. "I want Manda and Eva and Aunt Melia!"

"You know who's coming to our house soon?" Derek asked, hoping it would cheer her up.

She sniffed. "No" She said, her voice still whiny.

"Aunt Amelia."

"Really?" Zola said, her mood brightening up a little.

"Yea, she's going to live with us for awhile." He smiled.

"You know who else is going to come in a couple of months?" Meredith looked at Derek. He kne what she was about to say, he nodded.

"Grandma?" She wondered.

"And someone else, who's going to stay."

"Who?" Zola asked.

"A baby!" Meredith smiled, turning back to look at her daughter's reaction.

It was a mix between being confused and excited.

"It's in mommy's belly, remember like Bailey was?" Derek added.

"Like Aunt April's baby?" She asked. The tears had dried up from her face, she had already forgotten what she was crying about. April and Jackson's baby was only a few months old now.

"Yea!" Meredith exclaimed. "It's going to be your brother or sister."

"For me?" Zola said excitedly. Her face was all smiles now, she was understanding.

"For all of us." Meredith said. She took the hand Derek wasn't steering with and squeezed it. This was going to be a vacation to remember.

**Thanks for reading :) I'm sorry this update took so long…. But I'm excited for chapter to come, I was getting tired of Christmas at the Shepherds, 8 chapters is enough, and they will show up more in the story anyways! This chapter was mostly all filler, but in the next few chapters should have some drama in them, so stay tuned! Follow, Favorite, and Review, Oh, and If you have an idea for the story, feel free to share, I'm not promising I'll add it, but I'll consider it all! Thanks again for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for all the good reviews again! I LOVE THEM! Yay for the weekend, more time to write, Whoo! Anyways, We are back in Seattle. Oh, and btw, all the medical talk I say is probably all wrong, I don't spend too much time researching it, since it isn't the main part of the story.**

"Amelia's flight lands at 1." Derek told Meredith while they were getting ready for work. "She just texted me."

"Is she coming here or the hospital first?" Meredith asked, smoothing down her shirt over her belly. She was 14 weeks along, her bump was noticeable, especially with the tight shirt she was wearing, she was bigger than she was her first pregnancy, which is normal, but she hoped that the scrubs would fit loose enough, she hadn't told anyone in Seattle yet. She didn't know how she was going to yet, if her scrubs were too tight, everyone would figure out today.

"I think the hospital." Derek noticed Meredith looking at her belly. "So I guess we're telling people today?" He asked.

"No!" Meredith said. "Well, I mean maybe, but my jacket will cover this…" She pointed to her belly. "And I think my scrubs are loose enough…." She bit her lip. "I mean, I guess we could," She sighed. " I just don't know how to tell people." She admitted.

"Show up in that shirt, the news will spread around in minutes!" Derek joked.

Meredith glared at him. "Because that's the best way to tell people, through gossip!" She said sarcastically. "Everyone would be mad at me, at us." She pointed out.

"We better warn Amy, she would probably talk about it"

"Thats a good idea." Meredith said, looking at her watch. "We have to leave earlier today," She reminded him. "New interns…"

"Yea, I'll go get Zola and Bailey up, they can sleep some more in the car." He told her, leaving her to herself to get ready.

Meredith's hand traced the round of her belly. She was a lot bigger than she was last time, she wondered if maybe she was farther along than they expected. Doctors can be a few weeks off sometimes. She thought about maybe getting another ultrasound at work today.

Work… The thought plagued her all last night and this morning. Having 2 weeks off was nice. She REALLY didn't want to go into work today. It was already stressful enough with the new interns, she didn't want the stress of hiding her baby bump all day. She wished she had told people earlier, maybe it would have been easier for her today.

Meredith buttoned up her coat as she walked into the kitchen. "See, nothing to see here!" She said, looking down at her belly.

Derek laughed. "Whatever you say!" He was putting on Bailey's other shoe, who was still asleep.

"Zola is going potty, still won't put on her shoes…."

After she and Derek dropped of the kids, they were enjoying a quiet elevator ride. Derek got off earlier, to check on a patient real quick. Meredith leaned in the corner and closed her eyes, she was exhausted already, and her day hadn't even started. Suddenly, Meredith swore she felt a flutter in her stomach. She dismissed it, probably just her imagination. But no, there it was hand dropped to her stomach.

It happened one more time.

Meredith grinned from ear to ear. She knew it this time, she had just felt her baby move.

Meredith entered the attendings lounge she couldn't knock the smile off her face, Dr. Bailey and Alex were already there.

"Hey Mer, long time no see." Alex said.

"Welcome back, Dr. Grey!" Dr. Bailey said.

"Thanks!" Meredith said, walking over to her locker. She was trying to hide her smile.

"How was it?" Bailey asked.

"Oh, it was really good!" Meredith said, "How was your Christmas?" She began to unbutton her coat, out of habit, then stopped. _Crap. _She thought to herself. She grabbed her scrubs.

"It was just fine, you okay there?" Bailey asked, noticing Meredith stumble over her buttons with a ridiculous smile on her face

"What?" Meredith smiled. "Yea, I'm fine."

"You're a bad liar Grey!" Bailey snickered. "But, whatever, you don't have to tell us anything." She went back to doing whatever she was doing. "Oh," She said, turning back to Meredith. "You should ask Alex how his Christmas was…" She said raising her eyebrows.

Meredith swiveled around to face Alex. "How was your Christmas?" She asked, inquisitively.

"It was good." He said fighting a smile.

"Okay…" Meredith led on, wondering what he was supposed to tell her.

"I proposed to Jo." He finally said, letting the smile win on his face.

Meredith grinned. "I'm guessing she said Yes?" Alex nodded. "That's so exciting!" Meredith said. "Congrats!" She was truly happy for them, Alex deserved a girl like Jo. She pulled him into a hug.

Derek walked in. "You told them?" He asked, noticing the hug.

Meredith pulled away from the hug. "No!" She said quickly. Bailey looked up. "I was just congratulating Alex, he finally proposed to Jo!" She was glad she could change the subject.

"Well, Congrats!" Derek began to say, Alex smiled.

"You gonna tell us now Grey?" Bailey Interrupted. "What you were all smiley about?"

Meredith and Derek locked eyes, they couldn't keep it a secret any longer.

"I'm pregnant." Meredith said, she couldn't help the smile that came over her face. She would have to wait for a more private moment to tell Derek about the movement she possibly felt.

"I would have never guessed!" Bailey said, her pager went off. "Conratulations!" She said heading out the door. "You'll have to name this one Miranda…" She joked

"Does pregnancy trump engagement?" Alex joked. "Because I'd be more than happy to let the nurses gossip about you now…."

"I heard the news, Alex told me!" Meredith said smiling, catching up to Jo. "Congratulations!" The pregnancy hormones made her more cheerful than she actually was sometimes.

"Oh, Dr. Grey!" Jo said, startled by her sudden appearance next to her. Meredith was still known as Medusa, and Jo was still a little intimidated by her sometimes. "Thanks, I was actually just looking for you! These interns are on your service today." Meredith just realized the group of 5 scared looking people behind her.

"Oh," Meredith said raising her eyebrows, her demeanor changed, she became more serious. It was her job to intimidate the interns, after all, she was Medusa. "Right." Meredith glared at the interns. "Follow me." She ordered.

****"I heard she slept with an attending when she was an intern." The interns gossiped as they followed Meredith

"Probably to get surgeries-" Another one added. "Slut."

"I would sleep with attendings for some kick-ass surgeries." Said another one. A few of the interns giggled..

"Ew," One said in between giggles. "I'm pretty sure all the good-looking ones are taken."

"Avery?" She asked.

"Married to Dr. Kepner- they have like a 2 month old baby"

"Karev?"

"Engaged- heard it from some nurses."

"Shepherd?"

"Isn't he a little too old for you?" One questioned.

"Doesn't mean he isn't good-looking." Laughed the intern. "Neuro cases are kick-ass." She shrugged.

"I think he is married." An intern guessed. "I saw him walk in with 2 kids."

"You think Dr. Grey is married?" A guy intern asked.

"Ahhh, Dr. Grey!" Derek said, joining Meredith at her shoulder as they walked. Meredith acknowledged him with a smile. "Looks like a lovely group of interns you've got here." He bantered, looking over his shoulder at the group of interns following her.

"As always." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Anyways- I need you on a girl in 314- suspected lung cancer metastatic to the brain."

"Right, yes." He said as they headed into the patients room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Shepherd." He introduced himself to the patient. "And this is Dr. Grey." He beamed. Meredith reached out and shook the patients hand.

"Who's presenting?" Meredith sighed at her interns. 5 hands raised in the air. Meredith chose a small girl standing near the back. "You, uh, Dr…" She hadn't learned all the interns names yet.

"Bryant." The girl told her. SHe had a nervous quiver in her voice. "Maddie Hollis, age 29, suspected lung cancer metastatic to the brain…" She continued. "Symptoms include headaches, seizures, nausea and vomiting, loss of coordination, and vision changes…." She finished.

"Run a CT and MRI, page me when they're ready." He ordered. The interns scurried out of the room.

Miranda, Meredith, Alex, Callie, and Arizona all sat around and ate lunch together.

"Hey, I heard the good news!" Callie said as she and Arizona sat down.

"Mine or Alex's?" Meredith asked.

"Yours!" Callie exclaimed. "3 kids, wow!" She said. "What's Alex's?" She asked.

"He's engaged!" Meredith said, happily.

"Oh, that's old news." Callie dismissed.

"Seriously?" Meredith looked at Alex. "How long?" He asked.

"Since Christmas." He admitted.

"I hate leaving for so long." She muttered. "Why didn't you call me!?"

"Right." He said sarcastically. "Hey Mer, I'm getting married to Jo, have fun on vacation, Bye." Alex gave Meredith a look. Everyone at the table giggled.

"That would've been great!" Meredith huffed.

"You never told us you were pregnant." Alex countered. That shut her up.

"How'd Derek's family take the news?" Bailey inquired. "Assuming you told them…."

"Oh, well they figured out before we could tell them, but they're all super excited," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Super Baby Crazy, Kathleen is already planning things, says she's going to come visit when this baby is born, So is Derek's mom, and I'm pretty sure Lizzie will show up too, they all have a habit of showing up randomly, they were all obsessed with Bailey and Zola, all their kids are older, I told you- baby crazy. And now I'm rambling." She sighed. "Basically all of Derek's family will be here when the baby is born, except Nancy. And Cristina."

"What about Amelia?" Arizona asked, remembering her from awhile back.

"Wait, Hunt hasn't announced it yet?" She said, "She got a job here, she's starting in 3 days."

4 surprised faces stared back at her.

**Thanks for reading! Yea, So this chapter didn't have much to it, and it's pretty choppy, but I already have like half of the next chapter done, but It was going to be too long it I added it all together. So, look forward to upcoming chapters! And please Follow, Favorite and Review, It makes my day to see people actually liking what I write!**


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